Thread holder and waxer.



PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

M. P. DOUGHERTY.

THREAD HOLDER AND WAXER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1907.

NORRIS PETERS Ca, wnsnmarom'ntc UNITED STATES PATENT orrion. I

MARION F. DOUGHERTY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF FORTYONE-HUN- DREDTHS TO W. H. WHITESELL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

THREAD HOLDER AND WAXER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application filed September 16, 1907. Serial No. 393,241.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVlARION F. DOUGH- ERTY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, resident at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and Stateof California, have invented a new and useful Thread Holder and Waxer,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a portable device adapted to hold a spool ofthread, whereby the thread is prevented from unwinding ex cept when itis reeled off as required, and to furnish means for waxing the thread asit is being reeled off from the spool.

The device is compact and a spool of thread held therein is preventedfrom rolling around; the thread is prevented from becoming tangled, andthe device is suitable for use in the sewing room or in the household,constituting a useful and valuable adjunct of the work basket.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referringthereto :Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device, a spool of threadbeing shown in position therein, the thread having been partiallyunreeled from the spool. Fig. 2 is a section on line r .r Fig. l. i

The device comprises a substantially cylindrical casing 1 having anunconfined edge 2 and provided near each end with an inwardly extendingprojection 3. The casing 1 is formed of rather stifi but springymaterial, such as metal or celluloid, and by grasping the free edge 2the cylinder may be expanded to permit the spool of thread 4 to beinserted. The projections 3 are provided to prevent the spoo fromslipping out endwise and when the spool is in position the casing 1grips the spool, as shown in Fig. 2, with a suflicient pressure toprevent the spool from rotation therein except when turned in unreelingthe thread, and in the unreeling operation the casing acts as a journalfor the spool and the projections 15 are spaced apart so that the spoolmay partake of the necessary amount of longitudinal movement.

Projecting forwardly from the lower portion of the casing l is anextension 5 having inwardly directed side flanges 6, thus forming asocket for a cake of bees-wax 7. The front portions of the flanges 6 aredepressed, as shown, to prevent outward movement of the cake of bees-waxand also to form troughs for guiding the thread 8 into cutting corners9. The outer edge of the extension 5 may also be formed with a cuttingedge 10.

In operating the device the case may be grasped in the left hand and thethread 8 may be pulled out by the right hand the distance required for aneedle full, and as the thread is pulled out it is drawn across orthrough the bees-wax 7 so that the action of unreeling the thread alsoserves to wax the thread. The required length of thread having beendrawn out, the thread may then be deflected, as indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1, against the knife edge 10 or into either knife corner 9and severed.

It is obvious that the spool of thread may be very easily inserted orremoved from the device and that when in position therein it isfrictionally held from rotation and prevented from unwinding and thethread cannot become tangled. Moreover, the short end of the threadwhich projects from the spool will stick in its groove in the bees-waxand thus be held taut. The action of drawing the thread over thebees-wax causes the thread to cut its own groove in the wax. It will benoted that as the thread is withdrawn that the groove in the bees-waxthrough which the thread slides will cause a traverse movement to beimparted to the spool as the thread unreels therefrom, thus causing thespool to travel longitudinally first in one direction and then in theother.

What I claim is 1. In a device of the character described comprising asubstantially cylindrical casing adapted to receive a spool of thread,an ex tension projecting from the casing, and beeswax in said extensionthrough which the thread is adapted to be drawn and waxed.

2. A device of the character described comprising a substantiallycylindrical casing formed of springy material and having an unconfinededge, said casing having near each end a projection which projectsinwardly beyond the inner face of the cylinder, the said casing beingadapted to receive spools of various lengths and the said inwardlyextending projections permitting the spool to slide endwise along thesmooth inner surface of the cylinder while the thread is being unwoundbut preventing the spool from sliding endwise out of the casing, and

an extension projecting from said casing thread guiding troughs, and thesaid eXten- 10 formed With a thread cutting edge. sion having one ormore cutting edges.

3. A device of the character described 3 In testimony whereof, I havehereunto set comprising an expansible cylindrical casing my hand at LosAngeles, California, this 10th adapted to receive and hold a spool ofthread day of September 1907. and formed With an extension having inMARION F. DOUGHERTY. Wardly directed flanges adapted to receive a Inpresence of cake of bees-Wax, the said flanges being de- G. T. HACKLEY,pressed at their forward portions to form FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

